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LA Times; TVWeek

CBS News Veteran Disputes Bill O’Reilly’s Account of Falklands Coverage

Feb 23, 2015  •  Post A Comment

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s version of his coverage of the Falklands war in 1982 continues to come under scrutiny.

O’Reilly’s account were highlighted in a recent Mother Jones article, which O’Reilly vigorously disputed.

Now former CBS News correspondent Eric Engberg, who was a part of the same press corps in Buenos Aires to cover the Falklands in 1982, is challenging O’Reilly’s version of events.

“Engberg took to Facebook on Saturday to note that O’Reilly described seeing fatalities at the scene around the presidential palace in the Argentine capital, which did not appear in any reports at the time, and that his accounts of violence and chaos were overstated,” the Times reports.

Engberg reportedly told CNN: “He’s trying to build it up into a more frightening situation than it was. It wasn’t a combat situation by any sense of the situation that I know. There were no people killed. He said he saw troops fire into the crowd. I never saw that and I don’t know anybody who did. And I was there on the scene. Not only did I not hear any shots, I didn’t see any ambulances. I didn’t see any tanks. I didn’t see any armored cars.”

The Times adds: “Engberg, who was with CBS News for more than 25 years, said he saw more violence at anti-Vietnam War protests in Washington, D.C., than he did that day in Buenos Aires.”

O’Reilly reportedly refuted Engberg’s account during an appearance on “Media Buzz” on Fox News.

“O’Reilly said it was possible Engberg didn’t hear any firing because he stayed inside the hotel,” the Times reports. “He claimed Engberg’s nickname was ‘Room Service Eric.’”

3 Comments

  1. O’Reilly works at Faux News. That says all you need to know about his veracity.

  2. It’s all for naut…FOX doesn’t care if they have any credibility. The would never think of firing anyone for making anything up…otherwise they would all be gone. And the Neanderthals that watch FOX will keep on watching even if you proved they were a child molester. Even the right wingers know deep down in their hearts that I am right..

  3. This is sort of like the Bill Cosby story. For O’Reilly’s version to be the truth, every other witness to come forward has to be lying, and/or part of the vast left-wing conspiracy to defame him. C’mon Bill. Man up (to use the sort of phrase he does): admit you were wrong and take your licks. You know, like Brian Williams did.

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